


Mr. First Kiss

by DancesWithSeatbelts



Series: NaLu Fever [24]
Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: College, F/M, Modern AU, meet cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-24
Updated: 2016-12-24
Packaged: 2018-09-11 18:07:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,468
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9001108
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DancesWithSeatbelts/pseuds/DancesWithSeatbelts
Summary: A modern college AU mashed with a meet cute situation.





	

Plue didn't need an excuse to walk on his hind legs, he spent more time upright than anything it seemed. The whole breed had been prized as circus dogs. Right now he was straining at his leash, trying to get closer to the guy walking his cat in front of them.  
  
"Plue! Hey! Plue! What do you think you're doing?" Concentrating attention on her dog was Lucy's downfall and salvation. This dog didn't fetch, didn't like other dogs and refused to walk at heel. Lucy needed to keep a sharp eye and firm hand on the leash to keep her American Eskimo miniature in line.  
  
A Cat? Lucy loosened her grip and gawped at the sight of a Russian Blue decked out in a black leather harness, with a tiny knapsack on his back, embossed with smiling green fish.  
  
The man halted and turned. "Just going for a walk lady!"  
  
Mistakes one and two; stopping and turning. Lucy came face to face with a confused and very attractive man a couple inches taller than herself with dark eyes and a shock of pink hair peeking out from under a knit cap.  
  
"I wasn't talking to you!" Lucy regretted her lack of make-up this morning. Sheesh! If she'd known her new neighbourhood had such a good looking man, she'd have taken the time to dress nicer.  
  
Plue lunged for the cat.  
  
Inattention to the dog; mistake number three.  
  
Jerked forward and surprised from the amount of pull in a not even twenty-pound dog, Lucy went crashing chest first into the stranger. She gasped as he wrapped his arms around her, trying to keep her upright.  
  
Plue yipped at the cat who stood his ground for ten seconds and then decided to climb his master, swarming up the man. Lucy watched him scrunch his eyes shut from the pain. Now distracted with his pet perched on his shoulder, digging claws into his flesh, the stranger stumbled about, trying to steady his footing. "Happy! Stop it!"  
  
Plue, not to be denied his attempt at making a new friend or asserting his dominance over a new enemy leaped into the air and knocked into the man. In a flailing mass of tangled limbs, man, woman, cat and dog fell to the sidewalk. Lucy wondered why the pavement radiated warmth and smelled of wood smoke and spice. Her eyes snapped open in shock. She was laying on the stranger, cocooned in his arms and her lips smooshed onto his.  
  
Was it the last few years of loneliness making her so slow to disentangle herself from human contact? Was it the stranger's warmth making her feel too cozy to move? Was it the fact that from this close Lucy could see his dark eyes were a deep green filled with mystery? And this scent he had, she decided it was comforting and addicting. It was an accident, but still counted as her first kiss. Was it his first too? He was so good looking he must have had lots of kisses.  
  
"You weigh a ton," The stranger groaned, "Are you hurt?"  
  
That cooled her mood, but manners were an integral part of her personality. "Are you hurt?" Lucy pushed down on the man's chest to lever herself off. He let out a hiss of air, she sank back down. "You're hurt!"  
  
"Your dog's leash is trying to cut my leg off!"  
  
Lucy looked down the man's body and spied the cording wrapped around his knee. "I'll try to remove that first then." Snaking her hand down his side, Lucy froze as he let out another gasp. "I didn't do anything yet!"  
  
"No, you're fine, but my cat isn't making any noise."  
  
"Neither is Plue!"  
  
Both stricken with guilt, the pet owners struggled to sit upright. Peaceably laying down together like they were old friends were the cat and dog. Most damning of all, it seemed as if they were exchanging pleased grins.  
  
Sighing in relief, they sagged against one another.  
  
"Sorry my dog went after your cat."  
  
"You should be. What kind of person can't keep such a small dog under control?"  
  
"Hey! Who walks cats?" Lucy had expected reciprocating words of apology from the man. "That's just weird."  
  
"Takes a weirdo to know what's weird." He pulled off his knit cap and shook out his hair, making pink spikes stand up in all directions.  
  
"Says the stranger with pink hair." Lucy smirked.  
  
"I'm Natsu Dragneel." Natsu stuffed his cap into the interior of his jacket and smirked back at the girl. "Now I'm not a stranger, but you're still weird."  
  
"Oh!" Lucy closed her eyes and counted to ten, her left eyebrow twitching. "My name is Lucy Heartfilia," her next words shot out her mouth in fast order, "andIamnotaweirdo!"  
  
"Whatever you say, Luigi." Natsu rolled his eyes at Lucy. "Can we get loose from each other now?"  
  
Lips pursed in a tight line, Lucy nodded. They unwound the leashes and untangled themselves. Plue and Happy watched their owners, each sitting calmly, as if they hadn't just tried to start a new world war five minutes ago.  
  
Natsu grunted what Lucy assumed was a goodbye, turning to leave. She grabbed a handful of his jacket and tugged. "My name is not Luigi, it's Lucy and I am not a weirdo."  
  
"Uh huh." Natsu looked over his shoulder and shrugged. "I gotta get going and walk Happy before my whole morning schedule is wrecked." He snapped his fingers and his cat padded over to his side, looked up and meowed.  
  
"Well, I'm truly sorry Plue went after your cat and knocked you down." Lucy bowed her head. "Have a nice walk." She touched her lips and blushed. He might not have noticed their lips connecting as they fell, but Lucy would cherish her first kiss.  
  
Plue, not to be outshined by a mere cat, pranced over to his mistress on his hind legs. When Lucy neglected to praise him, he let out a sharp bark and pawed her hip.  
  
Natsu looked back, catching sight of the gorgeous blonde girl tracing her lips, her lashes a dark smudge on delicate pink cheeks. He gulped, pivoted and raced away. Absently his own hand drifted to his lips and tried to remember the angel-soft touch of sweetness.

  


Cat food clattered into Happy's dish and overflowed. Natsu grinned and ignored the mess. it kinda blended into the surrounding disarray of his apartment anyhow. He had a sagging couch, a scarred and elderly recliner, a coffee table made entirely from scrap but a newish flat screen TV and gaming console. Empty pizza boxes and more than a few beer cans competed with crushed pop cans at the side of the couch. A big enough mess for him to feel comfortable but not so big that he couldn't shovel it into a closet if he had guests. Most of his friends had the same lazy habits.  
  
Regular friends didn't count as guests, well, except for Erza. She was more along the lines of a terror, or say, a scary dream even as she purported to be his stalwart friend. She'd kicked his ass so many times, Natsu was sure that counted as an enemy (even if it was only to stop him from fighting with Gray).  
  
That blonde girl he'd met this morning though, she looked like the kind of girl who'd just die seeing how slovenly he lived. Lucy. Her clothes had been sensible for dog walking; yoga pants, a matching jacket over a tank top and well worn sneakers - even if they had all been big brand names. Natsu held the cat food in the crook of one arm and touched his lips again, his grin extra dopey. He couldn't ever recall having this weird unsettling feeling in his stomach or noticing details of a girl he'd only spent not even five minutes with. If he hadn't gotten nervous and ruined her impression of him, maybe they could have walked their pets together.  
  
Cursing himself as a coward, Natsu trudged over to the cabinet he had to keep his cat's food in. Happy was like some sort of master thief able to open regular child locks. Natsu had invested in an actual lock to keep the pet chow safe. Pushing the bag of food inside he closed and turned the lock.  
  
"I wish I'd gotten her number." Natsu had passed the point of being embarrassed about talking to his cat years ago. It wasn't a big deal. Most pet parents (and he considered himself one) talked to their animals, some adopting silly voices to do so - at least he hadn't slipped that far. …Yet.  
  
Natsu looked in his fridge and complained to his companion. "Looks like nothing good for breakfast." A melody played from his phone, soft at first and then more insistent. "Shit! Time to go! Weird girl made me late." The soft and goofy grin on his face gave the lie to his statement. Meeting Lucy was more pleasure than inconvenience.  
  
Happy shoved his face deeper into his bowl, his tail twitching as his master scooped up his books and slammed the door shut behind him.

  


Lucy unlocked her apartment door, Plue shot inside and ran for the treat jar. "Has Plue been good?" She toed off her runners and unzipped her jacket before releasing her pet from his harness. "Should I reward you or reward you for introducing me to Mr. First Kiss?"  
  
Plue's tail thumped faster, he knew that sweet tone of voice. He pranced about, tongue lolling with comical effect. A twitch of her wrist and Lucy tossed the treat in the air; smiling as Plue snatched it, ran to his rug and began gnawing.  
  
"Natsu." Lucy hugged herself and shivered then shook her head. Time was a-wasting and she needed to give Plue his breakfast before finishing her morning routine or else she would be late for class. "Maybe I'll see him walking his cat again later." Grinning, she headed to the bathroom. In the middle of brushing her teeth her alarm started blaring, Lucy cursed and began to rush.

  


Lucy sat with the most friendly girl she'd met in a long time. Her new friend was as much a lover of books as she was, and that was saying something. Right now Levy was flipping pages in her day planner. "Tuesdays are book club meeting days, do you want to come to the next one?"  
  
"Thank you, but -"  
  
"No buts!" Levy let her pen rest atop the day planner to keep her spot and then turned to face Lucy. "I'm the president and I can put in a good word for you."  
  
"If you're sure," Lucy smiled, "then I'd love to go."  
  
"Great!" Levy fished out her smartphone from her satchel and checked the time. "My boyfriend is late again. Ugh."  
  
"I've met so many people today, but I remember you said his name was Gajeel, right?"  
  
"Yup! And we all have the same last class with him and his cousin." Her eyes shone with match-making fever. "Oh! I can introduce you to him - he's a bit awkward around girls. Well, around everyone really. But he's not as stupid as Gajeel says he is."  
  
"…" Lucy bit her lip. "No one taking Professor Porlyusica's course could be described as stupid. I know today's my first day and everyone else has had two weeks of classes, but I researched my school choices and the teachers this academy employs."  
  
Levy opened her mouth to ask why Lucy had started late, but the melancholy look on her face stopped her. Instead she asked a question designed to lighten the mood. "What's the name of your dog again? My place doesn't allow pets, but I do love animals."  
  
A tall muscular man with flowing black hair and piercings studding his face dropped into the seat next to Levy. "Tch, like your personal lap dogs Jet and Droy?"  
  
Without looking, Levy elbowed him. "Ignore Gajeel and his attitude."  
  
"Pleased to meet you Gajeel." Lucy inclined her head and made eye contact, smiling. "Levy has told me some very nice things about you."  
  
"Heh, most are prolly lies, but I'm not as bad as I used to be." He looked fondly at Levy and patted her on the head. "Shorty here has a helluva temper, but only if her friends get mistreated." Gajeel caught Levy's hand aiming to punch his arm. "I'll meet up with you guys for lunch at the café. I gotta take charge of a study group already." Standing up, he squeezed Levy's hand and winked before waving good-bye to both girls.  
  
Lucy snapped her fingers at the dazed Levy. "And you said he wasn't good at showing affection."  
  
"We're both growing into our relationship." Levy's wide smile and blush was charming. "You'll meet Jet and Droy later, they've been my friends since grade school. Ooh, and Erza - she's captain of the chess club and the judo team. Juvia captains the swim team, my friend Freed is on the debate team, and -"  
  
"Wait!" Lucy laughed, "I can't remember everything all at once!" She took note of Levy's dimmed smile. "But I do want to meet your friends. I'm just feeling a little overwhelmed with moving and changing colleges."  
  
"Sorry! I wanna hear about your friends too." Levy brightened. "Whatever you want to share."  
  
"Since you mentioned loving animals," Lucy picked up her phone and pulled up her photos. "I am now going to bore you with lots of pictures of my dog." She touched the latest picture. "His name is Plue."  
  
"Aww! So cute and fluffy! Are those even white eyelashes?"  
  
"Yup! He's a treat monster, doing tricks before I can ask him, just begging for extra food."  
  
"Like most dogs." Levy grinned, "Gajeel has a big black tom cat that's won his share of fights, but he's more gentle than you'd think."  
  
"You talking about Gajeel or his cat?" Both girls giggled and then Lucy continued. "This morning I found out Plue likes cats, well at least one." She swiped her finger, moving the picture display. "Not too crazy about the owner, but Plue wouldn't walk away until this cat was out of sight."  
  
"Hey, go back a picture. Did you take a random shot of some guy's butt?" Levy wrestled the phone out of Lucy's hands and crowed as she found the picture in question. "Nice!"  
  
Face a fiery red, Lucy muttered, "Keep looking, I took a snap of the cat."  
  
"Oh," Levy zoomed into the corner of the picture. "Hey! I know this cat, I mean the breed." She hid her smirk behind a hand. "A Russian Blue, they're actually one of the smartest cat breeds and easier than most to train. And that guy's rear end is quite nice you gotta admit."  
  
"Maybe." Lucy held out her hand. "I have a few videos of Plue doing tricks. He jumps hoops and he can dance too!"  
  
"Cute!" Levy refused to let go of the phone. "Lemme look." She tapped twice and accidently closed the photo collection. Searching how to re-open the files, she opened an older collection. Her smile died as she found pictures of a younger Plue; cowering, fur matted and dingy.  
  
In a soft voice Levy asked, "So Plue was a rescue dog? I really admire you, saving an animal from that sort of horrid treatment. The world needs more people like you."  
  
Lucy blinked away tears and nodded, her throat tight. Looking down at her fingers tapping on the table she took a steadying breath. "Yeah. I'm not as much a hero as you're making me out to be, though."  
  
"Well, I'm sure Plue knows you're a hero."  
  
"Hey, can we switch topics?" Lucy held out her hand again.  
  
Levy relinquished it with a rueful smile. "Sorry, we've hit it off so well I forgot we only met this morning."  
  
"No worries." Lucy blanked her screen and put away her phone. "I need to find my next class."  
  
"Mine's in the opposite direction, so I gotta get moving too." Levy stood up and shouldered her book bag. "I'll text you the address of the café, see you there!"  
  
"Awesome."  
  
The two girls exchanged smiles and waves, each blending into the throng of students going about their business.

  


Lunch had been fun and relaxing. Levy told stories about Gajeel and Gajeel made boasts about his cat. Lucy had asked about Gajeel's family and he'd told the funniest stories of youthful fights with his cousins, never naming them, just referring to them as 'idiot cousins.'

  


Lucy forced her nerves to steady. Professor Porlyusica had a reputation for blunt behaviour, but only ever when stupidity was displayed. This class wasn't even her major, so why was she so nervous? She opened a new notebook and picked up a pen. Most students were already seated, but a few stragglers were hurrying through the doorway.  
  
A tall stately woman who could only be the teacher stalked inside. One last person wearing a knit cap raced under her arm as she shut the door. Lucy got an eyeful of the stern displeasure on the professor's face and resolved to never have that directed at her. Dropping her attention to her desk, Lucy only heard the almost tardy student take possession of the station next to her.  
  
Professor Porlyusica began her lecture, reading from her notes and displaying appropriate diagrams on the class room's smart screen. Doing her best to listen and take notes, Lucy ignored the muttering from the guy beside her. The unmistakable sound of a pencil breaking its tip and ripping through paper assaulted her ears, as did Mr. Almost-Tardy's inventive curses. Sneaking a peek at him fumbling for a new writing utensil and coming up empty, Lucy tossed him one of her spare pens.  
  
"Thanks," He mumbled and lifted his head, jaw dropping open as he recognized the blonde beauty from the morning.  
  
Afraid of the teacher but still needing to be polite, Lucy turned to say, 'you're welcome.' Mr. Almost-Tardy was also Mr. First Kiss. She choked on air and coughed. Wishing to die from all the many pairs of eyes staring at her, Lucy gradually quieted. Glad the professor had only given her a raised eyebrow, Lucy reapplied her attention to her notes.  
  
"Psst!" Natsu nudged Lucy once old Porlyusica returned to droning her lecture. "Hey."  
  
He grinned once Lucy whipped her head around to look at him.  
  
"What?"  
  
"You made me late and now you owe me."  
  
Forgetting in an instant how intimidating she'd found the teacher, Lucy yelped, "What?!" Face flaming, she tried to cover it up with a fake coughing fit.  
  
Natsu whispered, "She's gonna make your life hell now."  
  
Just as softly Lucy replied. "If she does, I'll make your life hell too."  
  
"Deal." Natsu thrust out his hand and grabbed Lucy's in a firm grip. "But you still owe me for making me late. I never back down on a promise."  
  
"Fine, whatever. Neither do I." Lucy shook his hand.  
  
The room was silent. No shuffling of papers, no hushed conversation; only the implacable tick-tock of the clock over the empty podium.  
  
Lucy looked at Natsu and he at her. Together they slowly looked over their shoulder at the Professor who stood silent with her arms crossed. Her expression was … interesting.  
  
"This is a class for learning, you two may want to hold hands on your own time."  
  
Mortified, Lucy pulled her hand back. Well, she tried to pull her hand back; Natsu refused to let go.  
  
"I just got an emergency text, I need my dear friend's help." Natsu lied to the teacher, "May we be excused?"  
  
"Saves me from throwing you out. Go."  
  
Exulting in having got his way, Natsu smirked at Lucy. Lucy jerked her hand again and this time Natsu let go. She gathered her supplies and crept out of the classroom behind Mr. Almost-Tardy but still Mr. First-Kiss and now Mr. Kicked-Out-of-Class.  
  
Lucy picked up speed once the door closed behind them, put her head down and flew down the hallway. Natsu cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled, "Go ahead and run! Levy told me where you live. I'll be seeing you around!"  
  
Lucy screeched to a halt and stomped back down the hall. "What? Did? You? Just? Say?"  
  
"I'll see ya tomorrow morning. Do your best to keep your dog from attacking my cat, all right?"  
  
Lucy scowled, opened her mouth and then shut it with a snap. Natsu's eyes twinkled too much, he was enjoying this! She gave a slight nod and whirled and left.  
  
A dopey grin on his face, Natsu spoke softly but with great enjoyment. "Tch. Lucy promised to make my life hell, but she still owes me … she did steal my first kiss."


End file.
